Why Travel Begins at Home

I've been lucky enough to visit 57 countries across five continents. I've watched the sun set over temples in Laos, wandered through markets in Marrakech, and stood in places so remote it felt like the edge of the world. Travel has shaped who I am more than almost anything else in my life.

But if you asked me where some of the most magical places I've ever seen actually are, I'd have to tell you the truth: a lot of them are about an hour from my own front door.

Because here's the thing about Yorkshire — it's not just a county, it's practically a world of its own. It's the largest historic county in the whole of the UK, and once you start exploring it, you understand why. We've got a coastline with cliffs full of seabirds and wildlife you'd travel miles to see anywhere else. We've got the Yorkshire Dales, with their rolling green hills and dry-stone walls. We've got wild, open moorland. We've got historic market towns that feel frozen in the best kind of way, and vibrant cities buzzing with life. Mountains, coast, countryside, history, culture — it's genuinely all here.

There's something about the word "travel" that makes us think it has to mean somewhere far away. A flight. A passport. A place we've never been. And don't get me wrong — I will always be chasing the next far-flung adventure. But somewhere along the way, I think a lot of us stopped really looking at the place we already call home.

I grew up in Yorkshire. I've lived abroad, worked abroad, built a life abroad — and every single time, it was Yorkshire I came back to. Not because it was easy or convenient, but because there's something about this place that gets into you. The way the light falls across the dales. The way a market town on a Saturday morning feels like it hasn't changed in a hundred years, in the best possible way. The way everyone has an opinion about Yorkshire puddings.

I think it matters to be proud of where you come from. There's so much to love right here, if we take the time to actually see it.

I have family with a caravan on the East Coast. They go every single weekend through summer, and they've got three children between them who have never once got tired of it. They love where they live, and they love their little holiday home by the sea just as much. They don't need a long-haul flight to feel like they're somewhere special — they've found it a couple of hours down the road.

I think children understand this better than we give them credit for. Give a child a dry-stone wall to walk along, a hillside to roll down, a market stall to peer into, and they don't need a passport stamp to feel like they're exploring. Curiosity doesn't care how far you've travelled — it cares whether you're actually looking.

That's the thing I keep coming back to with Colour the World. It was never really about ticking off countries. It's about building the kind of curious mind that notices things — whether that's a temple on the other side of the planet, or a 150-year-old horse carved into a hillside that most people drive straight past without a second glance.

Because here's what I've learned from 57 countries and a lifetime of exploring: it was never really about the places. It's a mindset. If you're someone who wants to discover new things and notice the beauty around you, you'll find it wherever you are in the world — including right where you're standing now.

So here's my challenge to you, wherever you're reading this from: next time you're tempted to say "there's nothing to do round here," stop and really look. I promise you, there's more on your own doorstep than you think.

Curious children become kind adults. And sometimes, the best place to start is right where you are. Let's start in Yorkshire. 💛

If you’ve got curious children of your own, why not come and explore the rest of my range? Colour the World is a series of screen-free travel activity books for children aged 5 to 12 — packed with colouring, puzzles, quizzes and creative challenges inspired by real places, from the temples of Japan to the castles of Scotland and the sunshine of Italy. Each one is designed to spark exactly the kind of curiosity I’ve talked about here, one country at a time.

You can find the full range at colourtheworld.co.uk, and come say hello over on Instagram and Facebook — I’d love to hear where your little explorers have been.